Heaven For The Weather, Hell For The Company
by Lady Lemon Drop
Summary: Time Travel 'His hand sunk through the wall. Someone grabbed it on the other side.' After the war, a letter from Harry's mother changes his life, giving him the one thing he's always wanted. To meet his parents. Re-vamp of previous 24 chapter story HPGW
1. Turning Back Time

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter…

**Important A/N:** This story is essentially a much more sophisticated version of my Time Travel story 'Heaven For the Weather, Hell For the Company'. I wanted to update it not too long ago and needed to go back to the beginning to see what was going on with it when I realised how much the storyline jumps about. And now here I am… deleteing previous chapters so that old writers can still read it seeing as they had it on alert and everything, new readers get to descover it and know it was an awesome story cause people loved the original, etc.

The basic plot is still there, I've just written it in a way that reflects my writing style now, as opposed to my style a year ago…

There was 24 chapters in the old story, so I've been re-writing each one and its completely new and different now so… yeah. Enjoy it if you're a new reader, welcome back if you're an old one then hello =] I'm going to try and update with a new chapter every day or so, depending on my schedule, but I do have most of it already done. Haven't started on the new stuff yet though =D

So… New and improved chapter one:

**

* * *

Heaven for the Weather, Hell for the Company**

Chapter One: Turning Back Time

Harry Potter sat solemnly in his seat opposite the new Headmistress of Hogwarts. He was tired, and worn, still covered in his own blood, and dirt from battle. The war was won, over, but so much had been lost in the process.

So many people had died for him, so many people were now left with their lives in ruins because of one man and it seemed to put everything into prospective. He was still alive. Somehow. And now he had to pick up the pieces.

He sighed. "So when are you planning to start the re-build? I know Kingsley said something about completely stripping down the Ministry and re-building it. I'm willing to help in any way I can... pay for the damage."

Her eyes widened. "No, Harry, no! We'll sort that out, I know you have the money and everything but it really isn't your job to…" She stopped to smile kindly at him. "You've had a long day… a long year… you should be out celebrating with everybody else."

He shook his head. "I don't feel much like celebrating much right now. Even if I did, I don't think I could. With Fred-" His throat caught. "I doesn't feel right."

Minerva shared a look with a portrait on the wall. "I understand." She paused. "You should go and get cleaned up, have one of the Healers look you over. They've all set up in the west wing, the Hospital wing took a bit of a battering, and with the hall in the state it's in… they're in the charms classrooms. The Slytherin Common room as been opened out a bit, it was the only dorm that didn't get damaged, what with it being underground – I've had the password removed. Most people have either gone home or been moved to Saint Mungo's so you should be fairly alone."

He nodded in thanks, sitting up straight. "I think I'd rather just get cleaned up and go to bed… I feel fine and I don't want to bother the Healers now, when they've got so many worse injured to help."

She nodded once, firmly, knowing it was pointless to argue. "We're going to leave it a few days to let people celebrate and pick up their lives as best they can before we start having serious meetings about rebuilding the wizarding world so… you don't have to worry about officials bothering you. The wards are going back up tonight so no stray death eaters will be able to enter… and I can promise you that any reporters trying to get into this building will have to go through me before they can get anywhere you." She paused.

"In short: You rest. I have everything covered."

He smiled back. Although she could tell that he appreciated it, it looked forced.

She waited until he was safely out of the room before turning to Albus Dumbledore's portrait. There was complete silence for a few moments before he finally said what she was thinking.

"We need to do something for him." He said seriously. "After everything I've put him through. He didn't have to defeat Voldemort. I pushed him towards it, I made it so he could. There was every chance he could have died trying and he did it anyway. Little Harry Potter, he grew up and saved the world." He sighed, leaning back in his chair.

Minerva McGonagall shook her head slowly. "When he walked through those doors 7 years ago I never would have thought… If I'd known he would go through so much I'd have taken him and ran, saved him from it. He looks so old and worn, and he shouldn't. He's James Potter's son, for Merlin's sake! The moment he was born I knew, I _knew,_ he was supposed to grow up to be a trouble maker like his dad. He was supposed to go through school getting into trouble and somehow managing good grades, but no. He kills a basilisk at 12 years of age, watches his godfather die and defeats the evilest wizard known for a century in time for his 18th birthday." She dropped her head into her hands.

"What do you have in mind?" She asked finally, looking up. "There's not much I can give him other than… well, someone to talk to, and he has that in so many other people. The money his parents have can take him anywhere he wants to go; it's up to him now.

But Dumbledore was smiling in her despair. "There's one place his money can't take him. At least, not without the right connections."

She looked at him in confusion, mystified. "What are you –"

"Top draw. The envelope you were never to open."

She opened the draw so fast it almost flew out of the desk completely. She'd seen it before; Snape hadn't let her anywhere near it. Scrabbling around for the brown envelope, she pulled it out triumphantly.

"Open it."

Throwing the torn envelope to the desk, she hastily flipped the folded parchment open and saw a short letter written in Severus Snapes handwriting. Behind that were numerous pages of drawings and equations, a second, sealed letter with oddly familiar writing addressed to Harry, and a torn page out of a text book. It took her a while to understand exactly what was going on, the key information that pulled it all together clearly held in the sealed letter.

"This… Snape had a hand in this?"

He nodded slowly, turning to the sleeping portrait of ex-Headmaster Severus Snape. "As it turns out… Lily was hiding more than she let on. She started this project back when she found out that she was marked for death. Being an unmentionable at the time, she had access to information that most other people didn't, and of course all the previous failed attempts at it… She went to Severus for help a month before she died, told him that she wanted him to finish it if she didn't. She just about had it at the time, but of course he had to find her work and then figure out what she'd done so far. He'd been working on it secretly for a while, when he became headmaster I offered my help."

She folded the parchment back up and placed it on the desk. "He really loved her, didn't he?" She looked to the man's portrait briefly before back to the door. "I'll tell him in the morning… he should rest before I knock him out with this news."

"Of course."

* * *

McGonagall had been right; nobody was in the Slytherin common room, not really. Everybody who wasn't being healed had gone home to be with their families. Except Hermione. She stood up from where she'd been sat awkwardly at the edge of one of the chairs by the fire and flew towards him for a hug.

She was crying.

"Oh Harry! I can't believe… we thought you were dead!"

"It's okay, I'm fine. Are you alright? And the Weasley's, have they gone home?"

She stood back, nodding as she wiped the tears from her cheeks with a torn sleeve. "I'm fine. They're all… devastated. Mrs Weasley offered for me to come back to the Burrow but I didn't want to… intrude. They don't need me hanging around when they're grieving. If Ron needs me he'll come and see me, but right now I think I'll just stay here and start helping with the re-build."

"Mrs Weasley said to send you over when you're ready." She added as an afterthought.

He shook his head. "I really don't think I can go over either. They need to be alone as a family right now."

She smiled. "You are part of their family, you know that." She nudged him slightly, then tugged at her sleeves and grimaced. "Is it just me, or do you want to go and stand under the shower for hours? I think it's having other people's blood in my hair. It feels wrong."

He grabbed her by the wrist. "Come on, I know where the bathrooms are... Marauders map." He added when she raised her eyebrows at him.

He showed her where the girls' bathroom was on the first floor of dorm rooms then paused on the way out. "Have you got clothes to change into or do you want me to go find you some before I slip into a coma?"

"No, I already did that while you were talking to McGonagall. I packed you a bag, it's in the third door down… I'm next door if you need me."

"Thanks, Hermione. I really don't know what I'd have done without you this year."

He watched as she smiled brightly then turned to lock herself in the bathroom before he noticed the tears falling down her cheeks. It made him realised he'd never actually thanked her for looking after him and Ron while they'd been camping. If she hadn't been there they'd have probably died by the end of the first week.

It was surprising how much dirt there really was on him, not to mention blood and some other questionable substances that he wasn't entirely sure he wanted to know about, or where they came from for that matter. Each student from the Slytherin house appeared to have their own room, which wasn't at all surprising and all together rather convenient at this particular point in time.

He didn't even really bother to get dressed properly before falling into bed, asleep before his head even hit the pillow.

He managed about four hours sleep before the one person he most wanted to see appeared in his doorway, the edginess of everything causing the soft click as the door opened and closed behind her causing him to jolt awake. Her eyes were still slightly pink from what must have been a lot of crying. She just stood there in her pyjamas looking particularly vulnerable as he got out of bed and came over to see if she was okay.

"Ginny? Are you – I'm sorry I didn't come and see you, I just thought that you might want to spend some time with your family before I came back and… made everything worse…"

She shook her head, tears streaming freely down her cheeks as she went up on her tiptoes to kiss him. He felt all the built up tension that still resided in his system slip away as he held her. "I missed you so much…" She sobbed. "We thought you were dead!"

He dropped his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. "I'm fine, I'm here."

"You're never leaving me again. Never." As if to prove her point, she kissed him again, desperately, walking him backwards gently until the backs of his legs hit the bed and they fell back.

"Promise me." She whispered.

"I promise." There was a pause where she hovered over him and neither of them said anything. He gripped her upper arms, preparing to move her off of him so they could sit up. "I'm not going to leave again Ginny. That part of my life where I had to defend myself, and my friends from him is over. I don't need to be anywhere but here."

She seemed to realise what he wanted to do and knocked his hands from her arms by leaning forward slightly. She looked determined. To do what he wasn't sure.

"Ginny, you should be at home." He said adamantly. "With your family. They need you… You need them…"

A tear fell onto his neck. "Yeah… But I need you more." She gasped. "I don't want to think about it." She kissed him again. "Don't make me think about it, please."

He stroked her hair, knocking it away from her shoulders as he kissed her back. Then he realised where she was going with this. "Ginny you don't have to-"

She cut him off rather forcefully with two fingers to his lips, looking like she'd never been more sure of anything in her life.

"Yes. I do."

* * *

The sound of something squeaking at him woke Harry up the second time that day.

A house elf.

Pulling the blankets up as far as he could as fast as he could he sat up so quickly it made his head spin.

"Erm –"

"Miss Minnie is asking you to read this, Mr Harry Potter, sir." The unknown elf handed him a bundle of parchment.

"Miss… You mean Professor McGonagall?" The house elf nodded enthusiastically, waited for him to unfold the parchment then popped out of view.

He fell back onto the pillows in defeat, closing his eyes for a few second out of sheer exhaustion. It was too dark to clearly see anything, never mind read the apparent essay that the head teacher had written. But he didn't know where his wand was…

Swearing and sliding out of bed, he searched around amongst the clothes on the floor until he found his wand where he had thrown it earlier on that night. Ginny rolled over in bed and he remembered, briefly, exactly what had happened the night before.

Lost a bunch of people he cared about. _Died_. Killed a Dark Lord… lost his virginity, right… normal day then.

Using it to light the lamps, he shoved on some trousers and picked up the letter off the bed.

Only it wasn't a letter. There was a short note on top, a slightly longer letter on top, some equations and doodles below it, what looked like a page out of a book and… a letter fell from the middle onto the floor. Kneeling down to pick it up, he saw the curly writing on the envelope.

'_My dearest Harry'_

He sat down heavily on the edge of the bed, legs suddenly weak as he recognised the hand writing to be his mums from the letter he'd found from her in Sirius' old room. Sorely tempted to just open it, he quickly went for the short note Professor McGonagall had written first.

'_Harry,_

_This recently came to my attention. It's a good job it did as well because I was struggling for a way to help you deal with everything that has happened as of late. _

_If you're interested, come see me in my office with your bags packed. _

_Take your time,_

_Minerva'_

Folding it back over and placing it on the bedside table he picked up the letter from his mother, glancing at the other note on top of the other stuff. It was from Snape. Deciding he wanted to know what his mother had to say more, he carefully pealed back the seal, as if terrified he'd rip the entire thing in two.

'_My dearest Harry,_

_I don't know if you remember me, or your father… I hope you do, but with the news I've just heard I wouldn't be surprised if I'm gone tomorrow, before you've gotten the chance to know me. Before I get to see you grow up. This was supposed to be a letter telling you how much I love you and how much I wish I could be there for you, but I wanted to do something better. Something more significant. _

_Harry, I'm an unspeakable at the Ministry for Magic. I work in the Department of Mysteries creating spells and incantations. It's hard work, but I love it. I wanted to find out how to travel forward in time, it's still not possible, and I just wanted to see how you turned out, in case I don't get to be there while you're growing up. While I was doing some research on time turners I found some different case studies on backwards travel that went further than 24 hours. Time turners aren't equipped to go back further than that, you see, fragile things as they are they can't handle much more. _

_No one had ever managed it in the past, and to be honest, looking into it, I didn't think it was possible. Then I remembered this boy from school. He turned up at the end of my 7__th__ year at Hogwarts. I didn't know him very well but he seemed like a nice lad, and looked oddly like James. Sometimes he'd do things and I'd wonder if they were related. _

_Then, of course I realised. Perhaps I shouldn't be meddling in what will be, and rather in what was. His name was Harry Summers. He arrived one morning in a flash of light, said it was an accident with a portkey. I never believed him – you can't portkey into Hogwarts without the Headmasters permission, and he looked as surprised as we were. He did this thing with his hair, I thought it was endearing. Then I realised that James always did it and it had always annoyed me when he had done it. _

_Now that I think back it's obvious! He wasn't from our time, he was… well, you. I figured that I must have found a way to send you back in time to meet me and your father without them… or me… finding out who you were. Because… well, if I die, you won't ever know who I was, not really. _

_I've almost completed my research. I haven't had the chance to test it yet, but I suppose I'll have to after I work out the kinks. I've asked a dear old friend of mine to finish off my work if I don't get the chance to, and get it to you for your 18__th__ birthday. You should be old enough by then to deal with it and not do anything stupid. _

_You were there for exactly one year. From just after the start of the year to graduation. You don't have to go back if you don't want to, it's entirely up to you. Though, saying that, I'm assuming that you decided to._

_After all that though, I do love you, you're father loves you, we can only hope you turned out to be the man you were destined to be without us there to guide you. _

_See you soon,_

_Mum'_

A tear fell onto the page just below where she'd signed just as a hand came to circle around his stomach.

"What's all this?"

He turned around and she saw the tears on his cheeks. "Hey… what's wrong?"

"My mum." He whispered, handing her the letter. She sat up in bed to read it, her brow furrowing the further down the page he got.

"I- did she get to… did she do it?"

He picked up the letter from Snape and scanned it. "Yeah. That's all the information there, Professor McGonagall wants me to go to her office with all of my stuff if I want to go."

He handed her the letter from Snape and she read it aloud. " 'Potter, your mother asked me to help her complete a task before she died, and being the woman that she is, I can't do anything but honour her final request. With Dumbledore's help, I managed to finish what she started, and everything is set in place for when you are old enough to go. Though Merlin knows you are likely to screw this up no matter how old you are. I'm likely to die some time in between now and the final confrontation, the Dark Lord already suspects something as it is. I've already tested the 'spell' if you will. It should take you to exactly when you want to go, and take you back when you need to. I believe your mother explained properly in her letter. Try not to screw it up, Severus Snape' Nice." She said. "Did he do this this year?"

"Yeah, I think so." He whispered.

She picked up her shirt, pulling it over her head. "Are you… are you going to go?"

He hesitated. "I promised I wouldn't leave you, didn't i? And I can't leave now. There are funerals and… the re-build."

"Professor McGonagall wouldn't have said anything if she didn't want you to go. It's high time you did something for yourself for once, Harry!" She got out of bed, pulling on her trousers and throwing his shirt at him. "I guess I'll just have to wait." Her voice broke as she spoke, turning her back to him to pack his bag for him.

He piled the parchment together on the bed and came up behind her, slipping his arms around her waist from behind and pulling her upright. "I'm not leaving you. Not now."

"I told you Harry, you can't not – "

"I am going, Ginny." He said softly, turning her around to face him. "You're just coming with me."

She did a double take. "I – With you?"

He nodded slowly. "Yeah. Not now. You have to be with your family. Go and see them. Be with them. Sort everything out… then I'll come and get you."

"Can you come and go as you please?" She whispered, wide eyed.

"I don't know. If I can't, I'll just wait until after all of the funerals are over then go. I guess I could do with getting away and letting people grieve without me in the way. Not to mention I the fact that the press will be hounding me." He kissed her briefly, taking his backpack from her and letting her go. "I have to go see McGonagall, you should get home before your parents realise that you're gone."

"Okay… but what about Remus and Tonks, they…" She trailed off, schooling her voice to stop it from sounding so pained.

His blood ran cold. How could he have forgotten them? He shook it off. "I'll see them soon wont I? What better way to honour their memory than getting to know them as kids?"

The door opened to Hermione standing in the door way looking confused. "I thought I heard you talking to- Ginny!" She looked between the two once before scowling at them both. "Really? You're thinking about _that _at a time like this?"

"Call it our way of celebrating." Said Harry, hugging Hermione as he walked past her. "I'll see you later; you know how to contact me if you need me."

"Harry, what-" He ran off before she could say anymore, and she was left with Ginny looking rather down. "Why is he so happy?"

"He just got some good news."

"But not good for you?"

"Kind of. You'll find out later, I guess."

* * *

Minerva was already stood in front of her desk waiting when he got there. She smiled brightly. "Decided to go through with it?"

"Yes… will this thing send me back and forth whenever I want to?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes. But it's more complicated than taking you back to the point where you left, you'll arrive back at a time parallel to the time you left, providing that there aren't too many bugs in the system, it's only been tested once. There might be a bit of a gap in the time difference. What is one day there add to three here, or vice versa."

"And if I send someone up here in a few days will you send her to me?"

She smirked in a way he'd never seen the professor smirk before. "She couldn't happen to be a little red head would she?" She raised an eyebrow at him when he didn't reply. "Yes, I'll send her along. I'll explain to everyone where you've gone, and there is a communication device over there that Severus charmed to work between the different times. He did something complex with the original spell work." She handed him a mobile phone. "He said that it was the only object that he could think of that would work… something to do with the… waves… it uses to communicate with others like it… or something along those lines." She then handed him a velvet bag, a small plastic case and a letter.

"The bag has money in it from your vault at Gringotts, they're connected magically, it won't ever fall empty. Those, are muggle contact lenses. Unfortunately you can't magically cure eyesight and the glasses are a huge give away. The letter is written from me. If you give it to Albus Dumbledore in your time, you should be accepted into Hogwarts with no bother." She smiled. "Ready to go?"

He took a deep breath. "Yeah."

She pointed towards the wall, where a rough drawing of a rectangle (presumably 'door') with runes drawn around it on the stone.

"All of the information to get back is there in those notes. Though that's only if you have to do it from a different building. So long as you are in the school, all you have to do is draw that, and think of the time you want to be in. I've already cast the spell… the potion is on the desk." There were four purple vials sat in a line at the edge. "One for every time you want to travel. Keep them safe."

Standing in front of the drawn portal, he steeled himself for what he was about to do. Seeing his parents again. Remus, and Sirius. He took a deep breath and downed the potion, concentrating on the thought of being with his parents in school.

1977.

Through pure instinct, he put his hand on the 'door'. Magic flowed from his fingertips outwards into the surrounding runes until it glowed a bright blue. His hand sunk through the wall.

Someone grabbed it on the other side.


	2. Introductions

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter…

_Quote: So here we go again. Another time, but it feels the same. Got sick of waiting here. Set sail on concrete waves. No survivors left to save, Too late for the walking dead… _

_Extract From: __**We Still Kill The Old Way**__ - __**Lostprophets.**_

A/N: Remember, Remember the 5th of November… xD I love bonfire night! Standing in the freezing cold by a massive bonfire watching fireworks explode in the sky – my kind of night ;]

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Heaven For the Weather, Hell For the company**

Chapter Two: Introductions

* * *

Sirius Blacks head hit Gryffindor table with a loud thump. A goblet full of pumpkin juice sat precariously at the edge of it jumped a centimetre from the table and onto a fifth year girls lap two seats down. The shriek and the commotion that followed it were completely counteractive to what he'd dropped his head onto the table for in the first place.

The person to his right grabbed him by the hair and pulled him upright. "That hurt?"

"Yep." He rubbed his forehead. "And I don't feel any more awake."

James frowned. "I thought the purpose was to go to sleep?"

"Yeah but it hurt too much to actually knock me out."

"That makes no sense."

Sirius shrugged, nothing else to say on the matter, so he turned on his other friend. "Moony, why must you defile the great hall with your books? This is a place for eating, not for reading!"

Remus looked up from 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them' briefly to roll his eyes. "I'm not like you. I like not being illiterate."

He pointed a piece of bacon at his friend. "If you don't put that book down and eat something I will put this between Glumbumble and Graphorn."

Remus Lupin closed his book reproachfully, standing up and slinging his bag over his shoulder. "I'll go over here then where books are appreciated, then shall I?" He pointed toward Lily Evans.

"Oh don't do that you traitorous rat!" complained James.

"Just because you managed to piss her off within the first 4 days of being back doesn't mean I have to leave her alone too."

"Oi! That wasn't my fault! She threw a fit when she found out I was head boy. I even bloody apologised for it. It's not like I had a say."

"Yes… Yes, whatever." He wandered over to Lily and her friends.

Sirius was still looking at his bacon with apparent awe. "Remind me to replace all of Moony's bookmarks with bacon the next time he annoys me." He said idly, taking a bite out of it.

James snorted into his toast. Mary McDonald slipped into Remus' empty seat. "Mornin'." She yawned.

James gave her a thumbs up as his mouth was full and Sirius ignored her completely. Peter Pettigrew, however, greeted her enthusiastically. All she could do was smile in response, too tired to do much else.

"I hate this! I'm so freakin' tired all the time!" She huffed. "James go to all my classes for me."

"Sorry, love, I've got my own classes to skive off of."

She smirked. "Is it just me or does Dumbledore look a bit fidgety?"

All three boys looked up at once, then nodded in unison and went back to their food. "He's always been a bit weird. I wouldn't put it past him to be having an episode of some sort." Said Sirius.

"And you didn't put itching powder in any of his clothes?"

"Dumbledore's clothes? God no, Dumbles is awesome, why'd be ever bother him? Like I said: he's a bit weird."

Sirius yawned again, pointing to the head table while he waited for function to return to his mouth. "Where's Professor Knight? I haven't seen him since the end of last term."

James lowered his voice. "My dad told me, over the summer. He went on a mission for the Order in the Antarctic, something about dangerous creatures. He's supposed to be back by now, but there were some complications."

"Complications?" Sirius frowned. "What-"

He became distracted by the Divination professor as she ran into the hall, grabbing him on the way past the Gryffindor table and up to the front of the room. "Professor what are you-"

There was a loud clap of thunder and a flash of light in front of him, causing various glasses to smash, and the tables to slide back a few inches, knocking him off of his feet. Stunned and half blinded by the light, he shielded his eyes and watched as a hand slid into the view. Before he could react, she grabbed the hand and pulled until a young man of a similar age to him slid into view.

"On your feet, love." She said, nodding to him.

Jumping up, he backed up away from the light as it spread out across the room then snapped back and vanished completely.

He had short spikey black hair that stuck up in massive tufts in all directions. It was familiar somehow. Blinking, dazed, he looked from Sirius to the professor that pulled him through the gateway between timelines.

"Aurora Sidus." Said the professor brightly. "I saw you coming, had to run to get to you in time – you really shouldn't have appeared right in the hall like this, bit suspect, isn't it?"

When he didn't say anything she dropped his hand and folded her arms. "I'm a seer. I saw you appearing in the hall just now…figured I should get here before you caused too much of a disturbance. What's your name?" She asked kindly. She had weirdly violet eyes.

He frowned. "Harry… Harry Summers. You're… So…" He cleared his throat, unsure of what to say or do now that he was actually here.

She turned to the head table. "This is that new student I told you was going to arrive late." She said, nodding her head in Harry's direction.

Dumbledore sat back in his seat, curious. "And how exactly did you come to be here, Mr…?"

"Summers. Harry Summers. I was supposed to portkey in but it went a little bit wrong…"

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "Almost completely impossible but fair enough…" It was clear he'd question it later.

Harry quickly pulled out the letter from McGonagall. "My uhh, previous Headmistress asked me to give you this." He handed it to the Headmaster as he left his seat and came around the table to greet his possible new student.

He tore it open, intrigued as to who the man that happened to have somehow have managed to slip through his wards with a 'portkey'. Scanning the letter only briefly, he became aware of exactly how odd the situation was, exactly. He folded it over, pocketed it nodded to Aurora. "I believe you already know what happens next?" he smiled at her knowingly and she flushed with colour.

"Sirius, would you mind taking Harry to Mr Knights classroom?"

"He's away, isn't he?"

"Yes. It isn't him we need, it's his classroom. Mine's all the way on the top floor, you see." She watched as Albus Dumbledore walked back to his seat, shaking his head to himself in apparent mirth. "I'll uhh, be right up. I just need to talk to the Headmaster." She ran off after the old man, leaving Harry stood with a much younger, much more alive version of his godfather.

He took a deep breath in before turning around, plastering on a smile. "Alright then?"

He didn't look anything like himself. Not really. His hair was longer, his eyes were darker, and his face was entirely different. He looked a lot more aristocratic than his future-self. Harry couldn't help but wonder if he would have been like this if he hadn't been in Azkaban all those years.

He rolled his eyes. "Sometimes I really hate her. Loveliest woman I know… bar a certain someone my best mates obsessed with, but honestly! Knowing where I have to be before I do?" He shook his head. "Come on, newbie. It's a couple of floors up, mind the stairs… they have a mind of their own."

When Harry didn't reply, to in awe of exactly what was happening, too absorbed in the fact that Sirius Black was walking and talking in front of him like any other normal human being, only at the age of 17. Sirius himself just… kept on talking… and talking. Until they actually reached the classroom in question on the third floor.

"So you're Harry, right?"

He held out his hand to shake. "Don't believe I actually introduced myself. I'm Sirius Black."

Harry shook it apprehensively.

"Are you alright, you look kinda pale… not to mention you haven't said a word in about 15 minutes. Not that you've had a chance, I could talk for England given half the chance…" He seemed to force himself to shut up.

He took another deep breath. "I'm fine. Just a bit overwhelmed. It's a big castle." He half-lied.

He tilted his head. "You know you look familiar. I've seen you somewhere, I just don't… quite know where…"

Before Harry could panic, Aurora came running in. Gasping for breath, she took one look at a picture framed on the wall behind Harry before answering Sirius' question for him. "Oh…" she whispered. "You're… him." She covered her mouth with one hand. "You shouldn't be in here, you can't, not now, he needs to tell you."

"What…?" Harry tried to follow her line of sight, only to be grabbed by the shoulders and dragged out of the classroom. Sirius, however, _did_ get to look at the picture that jogged her memory.

"Oh! You mean he's-"

"DON'T say it! He doesn't know."

"What do you mean he doesn't know? He's his-"

"Shut it." She growled. "You're going to be late for your first lesson. You should go now… I was going to ask you to show him around the castle while the Headmaster got himself organised but right now I think it's best if he goes straight to his office. I'll see you in lessons, Sirius."

Sirius looked annoyed. "But can't I just-?"

"No."

He stuck his bottom lip out slightly, sulking. "Fine. See you later, professor, Harry… supposing you actually get sorted."

She waited until Sirius was gone before putting on a fake smile. "The headmaster's office is this way." She pointed down the hall, leading him by the arm; as if afraid he'd run back into the classroom and discover what she was hiding.

"Do you know… that I…?"

"That you travelled back in time? Oh yeah. Don't tell anyone though; they'll think you're crazy."

He snorted. "Like that'd be a change." She pulled him around a sharp left. "So you're a seer… as in you see the future?"

"Yes… and the past. I'm a divination professor here, you see… part of my job." She smiled.

"And who is Professor Knight?"

She hesitated. "He's the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher here. Been here for a couple of years now. My fiancé… actually. The students all really love him, he's a good teacher." She flashed him a diamond ring.

He grinned. "I don't remember anybody mentioning him. Professor McGonagall and a few of the others that are still there in my time, but not him…or you, to be honest."

She shrugged. "There's not much to say about him really. Bit eccentric. Kind of a kid himself…. I guess that's why he connects with the students so well. You'll meet him soon, I guess."

Harry sighed, rolling his shoulders. He was still sore from camping and fighting for his life for the past year of his life. The sooner the settling in part was over the better. "So what happens next?"

"Well… we go to the headmasters office. You sign a student agreement, get sorted, and off you go. Have you been sorted before, or…?"

"Yeah – Gryffindor."

She clapped her hands together, finally letting him to go. "Well then! All you have to do is listen to his introduction to the school, and wait for a student from your house to come and show you to your common room and then you'll be free to go – 30 minutes tops."

They rounded another corner, the stone gargoyle waiting at the end of the corridor. She took a deep breath, bracing herself for something Harry didn't care to think about. "Alright then, Harry. Let's get you sorted…"

_

* * *

A/N: This is about…3 hours late, because I forgot to post it before I went out to celebrate bonfire night… =/ It's about 3am now, and I will be posting another chapter later on in the day regardless. _

_Next Chapter: Orion Knight makes an appearance._


	3. Orion Knight

_Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter…_

_Quote: 'So… what did you do in your free while I was slaving away in Literature?' -Rach_

'_Oh, we were in the dark room 'making art' weren't we, Jay?' - Me_

'_Oh yeah, we made lovely art, didn't we, Jess?' - Jay_

'_What kind of art…?' - Rach_

'_Well… Jay was enlarging some stuff…' –Me_

Just… banter between me and a couple of mates. He_ was_ actually enlarging an art piece with the projector in the dark room at my school while I talked to him. We just like to take the piss. We actually kept on with the innuendo like that for about an hour – it was quite funny. Especially when we went back into the dark room and the light went off after I left. Jay got lost in the dark and fell over so we had to go save him xD

* * *

Heaven For the Weather, Hell for the Company

Chapter Three: Orion Knight

* * *

The headmaster was looking over the letter from professor McGonagall when they arrived. He was frowning at it quite prominently. He looked up in surprise when they walked through the door to his office.

"I thought you were going to explain the syllabus to him… explain a few things about the school?"

"Oh! I did… it didn't take as long as I thought it would." She lied.

He nodded slowly. "Alright. Take a seat, Mr Summers."

Doing as he was told, he couldn't help but feel odd. It didn't sound right for the headmaster to be calling him anything other than Harry. It had always been Harry. It almost seemed wrong.

He put down the letter and raised his head to look him in the eye. "So… a portkey?" he asked skeptically.

"Well… yes. I've never been very good with that spell you see… haven't actually used it in practice before. It was supposed to take me outside the gates but my co-ordinates were off. You're wards are strong, it physically hurt going through them."

"I'm not surprised; they're designed to prevent anyone from entering at any costs. Are you aware of the fact that trying to portkey into the building usually ends in an extended trip to Saint Mungos?" he said, raising his eyebrows. "And yet you're here… fine. You landed on your feet as well, quite a feat."

"I've always been very lucky." Harry replied, simply.

"Yes." He said, looking down at the letter. "Minerva told me."

Harry did a double take. "How-"

Aurora, looking down at her hands, sat down to his right. "Did you tell him?" he demanded.

"W- no! He showed me the letter."

Dumbledore handed it over with a small smile.

It bore all of 3 sentences:

'_He's 'the' Harry Potter._

_Harry's very lucky to have this chance. Don't ever doubt him.'_

She hadn't even bothered to sign it. "How did you know it was professor McGonagall?"

"I recognized the handwriting." He pointed to a large leather bound book on a pedestal on the right side of the room, near one of the staircases. "Whenever a witch or wizard is born in Britain, their name appears in that book alongside their date of birth. That's how I know who to send letters to. You, however, appeared on my list 3 weeks ago. No date, just 'Harry James Potter'. I looked everywhere but there weren't any records of a child named Harry Potter born in the UK around that time. All the other 'Harry Potter's have already been through school, years and decades ago. You've remained a mystery to me and my staff until now. You must have appeared on the list early because it was warning me that you were going to arrive to come to this school. Or rather, this is your earliest appearance into the world. You're a wizard, so you appeared on my list. You haven't technically been born yet, so there was no date. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded slowly. "So… how much do you know?" He glanced at the divination professor apprehensively.

"That you're from the future. I'm not to doubt you. And apparently you're very lucky. Your words not mine." he sat back in his seat. "Can I ask how old you are, whether you've been to school here before…?"

"I'm 18 in a couple of months… or I would be… I don't know how this works… I went to this school up until my 6th year, when I had to drop out at the end to… pursue a few things. I missed my entire 7th year. I was going to repeat it in my own time, but then my mum…" He shook his head. "I think that's as much as I can tell you without telling you anything about the future."

Dumbledore nodded agreeably. "Oh, yes. At all costs, keep the information about the future of myself, and others in this school to yourself. Information like that can be the undoing of the universe." He looked at Aurora. "Only a few are gifted with both knowledge and the sense of when things can be changed."

She twisted her engagement ring around her finger, about to say something when her vision blurred and a memory was forced to the forefront of her mind. The memory of the first day she met Orion, his first day in office, as the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, exactly one year ago.

_She watched as Orion made his way into his classroom, placing a couple of books on his desk, flipping his dark hair out of his eyes. She followed him in and smiled. "I see you decorated already.''_

"_Yea.'' He replied, smiling forlornly at the pictures on the wall. _

_She made her way over to a few of them, on the wall directly opposite him. Aurora ran her fingers across the photo frames and faces of the people. "Who's this?'' she asked, pointing at a group of about 45 students in a room with mirrored walls and grate flooring. She could see them all dressed in black, white and grey uniforms, their __multi-coloured__ striped ties either loose or missing all together, girls in skirts and loosely buttoned white blouses, while the boys where the same only in trousers. Those who wore jumpers, she noticed had crests which bore the same __colours__ as their ties, like different groups… she couldn't make out what was on the crests, but thought nothing of it._

_Orion made his way over to her, seeing her pointing at the boy of about 15 who stood proudly in the middle, at the front. He had unruly black hair and almond shaped emerald green eyes. "That's…'' he cleared his throat. "That's my godson, Harry.''_

"_Oh, who are the others…?''_

* * *

A man stood at the edge of a large glacier directly in the middle of Antarctica. He stood tall, despite the blistering winds, his heavily gloved hands in the pockets of his ski jacket. The darkened goggles he wore hid his midnight blue eyes from the harsh cold of the Antarctic as they scanned the land around him. The whiter than white snow pelted down to the ground around him, making it extremely difficult to see any further than 5 meters in front of him, which is where his specialized goggles came in handy.

He took his right hand out of his pocket, using his left to remove the gloves from his hand before he drew his wand. He cast a warming charm on his now slowly freezing hand before he tapped the edge of his goggles. They slowly changed colour, tinting green instead of black, he could now see strait through the snow, and to the mountain tops ahead of him.

He zoomed in on one spot a few miles ahead and frowned, seeing the time, date, distance travelled, and distance left to go in an emerald green script imprinted on the left side of his goggles. Calculations of how long it would take to walk to their next safe spot slowly filed down the right side, giving them an easy route there that would hopefully have them there before night fall. It was dangerous to be out at night.

He tapped his goggles again and pocketed his wand, replacing his glove on his right hand.

A woman of no older than 18 came up behind him, forcing herself through the treacherous winds. "Professor? The others are wanting to know when we are going to set off…Professor?'' she placed a hand on his shoulder, he shrugged it off.

"Don't call me professor, Jezebel. I haven't taught you for a while now. 'S Mr Knight now, alright?''

She nodded enthusiastically. "Are we going to leave soon, Sir?''

He gave a slight incline of the head. "Round up the others. There is a ridge exactly 2.36 miles away from here if we carry on in a north easterly direction, we should arrive within the hour.''

Once the others in their group were collected around him, he continued. "I know we've done naught but walk all day, but we need to get to that ridge soon!'' he called over the noise of the wind. "When we arrive, we need to set up camp and have dinner; you'll have until midnight before we go over the mountain to find what we are looking for… Stay close to me.''

They all hurried along behind him as he made his way across the ice in front of him. Jezebel ran forward to walk by his side. "Sir? We – we're going out at midnight?'' Orion nodded. "But…Didn't Dumbledore say we weren't to go out after dark? The... the creatures that we're looking for, they'd kill us!''

He slowly turned to look around at her, his reassuring smile lost behind the black cotton face mask. "Don't worry; you'll be safe with me. We wouldn't be doing this, but our dead line is tomorrow, we have to be back by then. What with the incident with Chloe, we are behind. So we're going to have to portkey back to base, and then get quick transport back to headquarters before I go back to Hogwarts.

If we go back without what he sent us for, he won't be too happy, and he won't trust us to go out and to try and get it a second time. So, we go at midnight, get back before sun rise, and make our way back home _at_ sun rise.'' He paused and glanced at her again, wrapped his arm around her side, giving her a short squeeze as he rubbed her right arm before letting her go. "Don't look so worried!"

She smiled, he knew she had, though could not see it due to the cotton face mask that, like his, and covered her neck, mouth and nose. He smiled back and turned to look behind him, searching for Chloe, she'd fallen through the ice a few days ago and they'd been forced to stop for a couple of days to help her get through it before moving on, she was still having trouble walking properly. He spotted her dark purple ski jacket amongst the other blue, black, and grey ones. Only he, Jezebel and Chloe wore that colour, and with the two girls varying in height, it was easy for him to spot them both. He motioned for her to come forward.

She quickened her pace and caught up with him, letting him grab her wrist and pull her the last meter that was left between them. "How're you holding up?'' he asked, looking down at the 18 year old girl as she struggled to walk forward without pain.

"I'm… alright, not great, but I'll be okay.''

She gasped in pain as she jarred her bad leg, nearly tripping over a raised piece of ice. He grabbed her arm to stop her from falling and pulled him to his side, right arm around her waist, allowing her to lean on him for support, he would have loved to stop and let her calm down, have a rest, but if they didn't get there soon, they wouldn't have time to set up camp, and secure it before night fall.

"You're okay…'' he mumbled to her as she buried her head into his side, she had tears of pain filling up her goggles. She wrapped both her arms around his middle as he tightened his grip around her waist, rubbing her side slowly. He felt horrible, she was in a lot of pain and he couldn't do anything about it… though it didn't help that she was Auroras little sister. He was pretty close to her, which made it rather personal that she got hurt and he wasn't by her side to stop it from happening.

"She alright?'' asked Jack from behind him. He was 21, and had just gotten out of Auror Academy, rather than school, like the two girls either side of him. There was 6 of them altogether, a small group of newly recruited Order of the Phoenix members out on their latest mission. He himself was the eldest there by far, and the one in charge.

"No.'' he said bluntly. "Which is why we need to get to camp as quickly as we can, alright?''

The others nodded and they sped up slightly.

He looked down at Chloe. "You know I can carry you if you want?''

She sniffed and shook her head. "That's okay.''

"You sure? I can give you a piggy back, it'll be fun.''

She gave a short laugh. "No, I'll be okay.''

"Well, let me know if it gets worse, alright.'' She nodded. "You promise?''

"I Promise.''

* * *

When she reopened her eyes she found both Albus and Harry looking at her. "Are you alright?

"Yeah, I just…" She cleared her throat. "While I'm here – Orion, when will he be back? He's late…"

The headmaster glanced at Harry once before deciding it didn't matter and answering her question. "He's due back from the mission tomorrow. Unfortunately, a couple of days a go there was an accident that delayed them."

"…What kind of accident?" She asked apprehensively.

"You're sister. She fell through the ice. She's fine, but she will need medical attention when they arrive back. He'll be taking her to the hospital wing so you can see her tomorrow."

She jumped out of her seat. "I uhh… I'll have to come and see how you're doing later, Harry. I just need to make a quick call." She closed her eyes tightly and turned back around to the headmaster. "If that's alright with you."

He shrugged. "So long as you can get a hold of him, I don't mind."

She nodded in thanks and all but ran from the headmaster's office.

He tilted his head in interest. "So what house were you in in your time, Harry?"

"Gryffindor…"

A small, almost undetectable smile came upon his face and Harry knew he was deducting who his father was right this minute. "Would you like to automatically be placed in your old house, or can I resort you?"

Harry thought about it for a few seconds. On the one hand, he could be in a house with his parents, with Sirius and Remus. He could get to know them, befriend them… and on the other, he could be sorted into a different house and watch them from a distance. He was supposed to be there to meet them, to see them as they were, not to interfere and possibly change their lives. He closed his eye, torn.

He so wanted to meet his parents properly. But he knew that the moment he spoke to either of them he'd want to tell them everything, to save them. Because he was weak, and he loved them so much, even though he didn't really know them. He just about managed to shake his head jauntily. "No." He said harshly, through clenched teeth. "I want to be resorted."

The headmaster regarded him for a moment, suddenly realising with a pang of what was perhaps dread, that this boy wasn't here to meddle with the past, or for the fun like perhaps his father may have done. He was here to learn. He didn't want to know what the future had to hold, not if it would lead to feeling the way Harry Potter looked right at that second.

Scared, torn, upset and aggrieviated all at once. It was like it physically hurt to make this decision.

"Of course."

* * *

The moment Orion woke the next morning, he knew something was wrong. Everything was set into a deathly silence that was only disrupted by the occasional rattling of the cadged, now caught creature that they'd came for… and whispering to his right. He rolled over and frowned, the temperature in the room had dropped. He drew his wand and strengthened the heating charm on the tent, then turned to the source of the whispering.

It was Chloe and Jezebel.

"Look, Chloe, I think I should wake him…'' whispered Jezebel.

"I'll be fine.'' Replied Chloe in a strained voice. "I don't want to worry him… We have to tough it out for a few more hours, then I can go get myself sorted out.''

"I heard you promise him you would tell him if things got worse!''

"It's only a few hours, I'm fine.'' She slipped out of her sleeping bag and stood up, making her way over to the entrance of the tent, stepping over the others as they slept peacefully.

"Where are you going?'' hissed Jezebel, sitting up, her darker than dark brown eyes wider than usual.

She stopped and turned to look at her, half way through stepping over Jack; her legs placed firmly on the ground either side of his still form. "I need some fresh air.'' She turned and continued to weave around the random items (and people) that littered the floor of the tent.

"You can't! It's still dark out, it's too dangerous.''

"I don't care! If I don't breathe in fresh air soon, I will die, alright, so piss off and leave me be.'' She was two steps away from the tents entrance, when she doubled over in pain and clutched her stomach. Both Orion and Jezebel where out of their sleeping bags like a shot. He got their first; he was closer to her than Jezebel. He placed one arm around her back and leant forward with her, she didn't move or react, but upon reaching her level, he saw the strained look on her face, mouth clamped shut, lips pressed tightly together, he eyes where squeezed shut. "Clo?'' she didn't reply.

He gently began to move her back with him, intending on helping her lie down, but a gasp of pain left her lips as she cried out. He stopped. "Right, okay, give me your hand, you can't stay like this, okay?'' she nodded slowly.

He nodded to Jezebel, and she came running over, nearly falling over Jack as she did. Her foot got caught under his stomach and she stumbled, waking him in the process.

"Wuzgoing on?'' he mumbled groggily, his eyes not quite open as he stretched his arms above his head.

Orion bit his bottom lip. "Stay there, Jack, we'll explain in a minute.''

Jezebel grinned down at Jack apologetically. "Sorry.''

He leant back, his arms folded behind his head while he did as he was told, lying back across the floor in his sleeping bag. He smirked up at her. "S'allright.'' She smiled back.

"Yes, alright kids, we get it, you like each other. Now will you hurry up!'' cried Orion, standing half bent over a few meters to the right of her, arms wrapped firmly around Chloe.

She nodded, finished walking over Jack and stopped when she was about a meter away from them. She just stood there for a moment before Orion glared at her and nodded to something she couldn't see. "Blankets, water!'' he growled, clearly getting angry. She nodded again, pausing again, looking around the room. She blew hot air up over her nose, flapping her arms about for a moment before she spied what she'd been looking for.

After retrieving a pile of thick blankets and a bottle of chilled water from their supplies, she placed them both on the floor next to Chloe, giving the water to Jack to hold before laying the blankets out on the floor behind Chloe and Orion. She stood back and waited as her ex-professor slowly lay Chloe down, straitening her out. She fell to her knees by her best friends' side, taking the water back from Jack and handing it to her.

Orion took both of Chloe's hands it his and sat down behind her, her head resting in his lap. She couldn't help but notice that his hands were shaking. "I'm okay. I'll be fine, don't worry.'' He smiled at her, but it was clear that her words hadn't consoled him in the slightest.

She was his fiancée's little sister, and he'd let her hurt herself, then later come to the point where she couldn't move at all. He almost felt ashamed.

"Can I move now?''

Orion gave Jack an exasperated look, and then nodded. He grinned and got out of his sleeping bag, standing next to Jezebel. "Oh, and just for the record… me and Jez don't… you know, like each other.'' He pointed between himself and Jezebel as if to emphasise his point.

Orion narrowed his eyes. "I think we should be more worried about Chloe right now than your ominous love life.'' Jack nodded. "Right.'' He dropped down into a sitting position next to Jezebel.

Orion tore his eyes away from Jack to look down at Chloe. "Right, I need you to tell me exactly what's wrong, and where it hurts, Jez, I need you to call for a helicopter from base 4 to come pick us up.''

"Why base 4?''

"Because it will get here the quickest, now go.''

Jezebel ran off to the tent entrance to send her Patronus off to base.

"I - it's really not that bad, you don't need to send off for anybody.''

He squeezed her hand lightly so she sighed and began to explain.

"I stood on something… I didn't trip or anything I just doubled over, you know the way you do to grab your foot and swear at whatever inanimate object beat you up? Only when I bent forward I got this shooting pain down my back."

"And now?"

"Agony." She said shortly, smiling forcefully.

* * *

It took around 45 minutes for the helicopter to arrive, and another 15 to load everything up into it. It had been difficult enough getting the two cadged creatures into the small holding area at the back, never mind getting Chloe into the front, she was lying strapped down on a stretcher.

They'd figured that she landed on her back when she fell through the ice into a small, yet deep ice cave, it had been completely white, an underground conglomeration of ice, crystals and rock. Orion was sure that she had fractured her spine, adding to the further, rather painful things that were wrong with her.

They had been in the helicopter for little over an hour, with only a few minutes left until their arrival at their first destination when Jack began to complain.

"Is there any way of shutting those things up?'' He whined from where he was lying across a massive pile of sleeping bags and extra blankets.

Orion looked from the two magical creatures in separate cages (to stop them from ripping one another apart) a few meters away from Jack, to Jack himself who was lying on his back across an uneven pile of unrolled sleeping bags, extra blankets and pillows. "No.'' He said plainly.

Jack made an odd whining noise. "But… But it's annoying me!''

"Just be quiet Jack.'' Whispered Jez, half asleep.

He went quiet for a few moments. "…How much longer till we get there?''

Orion sighed exasperatedly. "A few hours.''

"A few hours? What do you mean, a few hours? Why can't we just floo… or, or apparate… or – oh I don't know, just something faster! If she's in that much pain, surely it's safer to get her home sooner.''

Orion gave him a look. "We'll get to the docks in half an hour. Then we take a magically powered ferry from the docking point, which is actually faster than the helicopter, being magically powered. After we've gotten through the Atlantic Indian Antarctic basin, we can apparate to the Prince Edward Island. After that we get to floo to the base in Madagascar before setting off by private jet to somewhere near Turkey, continuing on over to Paris where we can then apparate over to the safe point in central London, where we will then be picked up in a jeep by a very trusted order member, alright? We should be back at Head Quarters by half past three for the debriefing then you lot can bugger off and I can get to Hogwarts. There'll be medical attention all ready and waiting for Chloe when we get there. So no lack of excitement for you there.''

Jack was quiet for a few more seconds before he burst out with: "But why can't we just apparate from here to London?''

Orion almost growled, making Jack fall short toward the end of his question, he sounded remarkably like a dog. "Because it's not safe to apparate across that kind of a distance, and most certainly not safe to try to floo Chloe anywhere. Portkeying will jostle her about too much. The only reason why we're flooing to Madagascar is to shave off a few hours of the journey, and it will have to be done with great caution… We'd apparate to different locations and get home in minutes but to be honest, she's having trouble breathing as it is. It's much safer for her to be patched up and for us to take the long way there than it is to rush and possibly end up killing her.''

Jack was quiet for the rest of the journey to the docks.

* * *

Professor Dumbledore handed him the sorting hat. "Before you're sorted – what classes were you studying for NEWT's in your own time? I can get Minerva to draw up your time table ready for Monday while you're talking to the hat."

Harry actually really had to think about it. It had been so long since he had been in school; he'd completely blanked what he'd actually been taking. "Er… Transfiguration… Potions… Charms… Defence Against the Dark Arts… Herbology. I think that's it."

He nodded. "Right. You've room for one more subject on your timetable if you would like to fill it with anything in particular…?"

"Is that a hint, professor?"

"Miss Sidus offers a class during a few of the periods you would have. It's sort of a cross between astronomy and Divination. It's a popular class. She's a good teacher, one of the best divination teachers we've ever had, being a seer. We're lucky to have her. Unfortunately, Divination isn't really the most serious of lessons, and most people want to go for some more substantial classes after their OWL's, even if they do enjoy it, so she has quite a lot of free periods. She came to me after a while saying she was bored and that she'd like to try something new. It's sort of an add on, it amounts to something equal to half a NEWT, but the students in 7th year last year seemed to really enjoy it. It's a good way to keep them from disrupting other classes while they have nothing to do."

"And you assume I'll be a troublemaker?"

He smiled. "No. I assume that you'll enjoy it. I would also like you to take it due to the fact that then, Miss Sidus will see you every day, which makes it more likely for her to catch any… memories, if you catch my drift. I don't want to know about the future, Mr Potter, but unfortunately I don't know anything about you. I may have the word of a dear friend, but until I know for certain that you won't harm my students in anyway… I can't be too careful."

"Alright. If it'll help you trust me, then sure. But I promise you. I'm not here to change anything… as much as I want to."

The headmaster stood and walked over to the fireplace. "I'll talk to Minerva now; feel free to talk to the sorting hat when you're ready."

Harry looked down at the hat apprehensively. So this was it. After this there was no going back. He was stuck in the house the sorting hat chose, and he couldn't change it. He couldn't go home, either. He took a deep breath and placed the hat on his head.

'_Mr Potter! I do believe, if you're memory serves me right, that we've met before!'_

'You could say that, yes."

'_You would do well in all four houses boy, though two more than the others…' _said the hat.

'Anything but Gryffindor.'

'_Really? But didn't you fight to go into that house to begin with, all those years in the future? Isn't that where you belong?'_

'I… yes, but… I can't, not here… it's too dangerous, I can't get too close to them, and it would be too obvious to them, who I really am, if I'm in Gryffindor, I'll say something I shouldn't.. Please, just… anywhere but there.'

'_Very well. Then I have to say:'_

* * *

Orion heard his name whispered from his back pocket. Confused for all but a second, he pulled a small ornate mirror from the back of his jeans.

"Aurora?"

Her eyes widened in the mirror. "You're there! Good, are you okay? How's Chloe? Albus said she fell-"

"Woah!" he said quickly before she could continue, moving over to the other side of the jet. "I'm fine, Chloe's fine. We're almost home. You'll see her in a few hours, tops."

She gave a sigh of relief. "Where is she? Can I talk to her?"

"She's asleep." He turned the mirror around so it was facing the stretcher that her younger sister was attached to, wrapped in warm blankets, a healer sat beside her.

Turning it around to look at her again, he watched as she relaxed a little, placated by the sight of her sister alive and being attended to by a professional. She looked over her shoulder. "Where's everybody else?"

He looked across the room to where the others were, asleep in their seats. "Comatose, why?"

She took a deep breath. "Listen, there's something I have to tell you… something… well, I don't know if it's good or not, really… You should sit down, are you sat down, I can't tell…"

He purposefully stood up. "Yeah, go ahead." It couldn't be that serious.

She looked over her shoulder again, checking to see if anyone was around. "Harry's here. He arrived this morning, I don't know how, but he's here… you're godson…"

The small, priceless mirror slid between Sirius Blacks fingers and smashed into tiny shards across the aircrafts floor.

_

* * *

A/N: I'm sure that came as no surprise to those who've read this before ;] The scenes in the office were over about 20 minutes, while the ones with 'Orion' were over a good few hours, which I'm aware is odd, call them flashbacks if you must._

_I'm in the middle of a massive project for this A Level I'm doing so… that's the reason why this is late. I sort of did all of the research I needed to do for it over the week so I had more time to do whatever the hell I wanted without having to worry about it – like this =] I'll update soon!_

_Next Chapter: Harry finds out what his new house is._


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